To be or not to be Bajirao is not something to gloss over, if the popularity
of this one is anything to go by. The longest running play currently, this one
has put Rage, its producers, firmly in the top league of theater companies in
India, and as Seagram's Blenders' Pride brings it to Hyderabad this weekend, it's
time for theater lovers to scramble for invitations.
The play is an adaptation of Herb Garnder's Broadway hit "I'm Not Rappaport". It is set in five gardens in Dadar, where two old men, Madhukar Kulkarni, a Maharashtrian Ex-freedom fighter, and Dhunjisha Batliwalla, the aging Parsi secretary of a building society, meet everyday on their self-assigned park bench. They refuse to accept old age, and as they engage in a series of adventures, the consequences are hilarious.
Rage was founded in 1992, and its first ever play was on AIDS, and was called "Are There Tigers In The Congo?" Since then Rage has attracted audiences not only in Mumbai but all over the country, with plays such as "Love Letters" of Hosi Vasunia, "I Ought To Be In Pictures" of Neil Simons, "One For The Road" of Harold Printers and "Steel Magnolias" of Hosi Vasunia. The company has also staged its plays abroad at places like Colombo, Singapore, Dubai and Sharjah.
"I'm Not Bajirao" is one of the first multi-lingual productions, and draws its seven-member cast from the English, Marathi and Hindi stages. The seven artists who will take part in this play are Sudhir Joshi (as Madhukar Kulkarni), Boman Irani (Dhunjisha Batliwalla), Sohrab Ardeshir (Sohrab "Sam" Master), Kunal Roy Kapoor (Peter), Dilnaz Irani (Lalita Swamy), Archana Patankar (Smita, Madhukar's daughter) and Kunal Vijayakar (Kambli).
The play is being sponsored by Seagram's Blenders' Pride. Please contact Secunderabad
Club at 780-4841/780-4842 or Seagram at 666-6884 for further details.